What did you want to be when you grew up? 

When I was younger, I wanted to be an English teacher at either the high school or collegiate level. I toyed with this idea even in college but ultimately decided to go to law school. However, I now adjunct at UC Law, so I guess I got a little bit of both worlds. 

What made you want to be an attorney?

In high school I had a bit of a feud with one of my teachers who made some political comments during class. Long story short, he was basically instructing the students how to vote in the upcoming presidential election, Bush vs Gore. I wrote him a letter explaining why I thought he should refrain from these types of comments, and he asked to see me before class. Thinking I was in trouble, I went to meet him before school one morning, and much to my surprise, he complimented me on my articulate letter and apologized for his remarks. He suggested I look into law school, and the rest is history. 

Tell us about an important lesson you’ve learned during your law career. 

There is a lot they do not teach you in law school. Law school focuses on the theory and policy of law but doesn’t really teach the practicalities of the practice of law or at least it didn’t when I was in law school nearly 20 years ago. Much of the practice of law, in my humble opinion, is an exercise in human psychology. Counseling clients through difficult situations, understanding unique personalities of clients and their personal goals, advising a client when and how to take on risk, and making sure they are comfortable with that risk.  At the end of the day, the client doesn’t care if you – as their lawyer – think the law is “right” but only that you are able to advocate for the client within the confines of the law that exists. In my practice of immigration law this is true now more than ever.

What are you goals for this year as Chair?  

I hope to encourage individuals from outside the practice of immigration law to attend our meetings and bring new interest to the intersections of immigration law and other practice areas. One of my favorite things about immigration law is that it crosses paths with so many other areas of law: criminal law, employment law, civil rights law, labor law, family law, etc. If you’re reading this and do not practice immigration law – please join us for a CLE or a meeting and bring your unique perspective to our practice.